


Wicked Game

by SupernaturalWinchester67



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst, F/M, Insecure Michael, redeeming michael
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-07
Updated: 2019-01-07
Packaged: 2019-10-05 19:40:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17331161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SupernaturalWinchester67/pseuds/SupernaturalWinchester67
Summary: Michael discovers that Dean has an old girlfriend he cares a great deal for and attempts to threaten her as a way to control Dean. He doesn’t expect to end up falling for her himself.





	Wicked Game

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Written in Michael’s POV. I didn’t intended for this story to go the way it did but if you’re a fan of Michael, I hope you enjoy…

Oh, did this guy have baggage. Dean Winchester had so much shoved away in that head of his, I was a little surprised he hadn’t mentally snapped. Well…the Mark of Cain, Purgatory, being a demon…those little things had changed him, probably allowed Dean to go dark in a way he would have never allowed himself. He may have saved himself honesty.

Or Dean Winchester was simply very good at shoving his crap deep down inside of himself.

His memories, while a pain to dig through, were filled with good information about the world. Dean kept squirming though, getting fidgety in the small dark corner of his mind I preferred to keep him trapped in. Nothing more than an annoying itch but Dean was annoying to no end and some outside coercion was the only thing that would likely get him to be quiet.

“Dean,” I said, closing my eyes at the end of a long day of deal making. “Dean, come out to speak. It’s alright.”

“Let me go,” panted out Dean.

“No. You’re quite trapped Dean. But you keep misbehaving in there, keep trying to get out when we both know it’ll never happen,” I said.

“Lemme go,” said Dean quieter, a small whine to his voice.

“You’ll break eventually and I am normally patient enough to not be bothered by these things but I’d prefer to speed that process up if I need to,” I said. Dean was silent. “Good boy. You are learning.”

“I’m going to destroy you,” said Dean.

“…and there’s the naughty boy again. I don’t like him. I like the Dean who is quiet and silent and doesn’t move a muscle,” I said. “I have ways of getting you to do that, Dean.”

“Try your worst,” spat back Dean.

“There’s a woman in your memories. Y/N,” I said. If Dean’s heart could have skipped a beat, it would have. “I think I’ll pay her a visit.”

“No. Please don’t,” said Dean.

“But Dean, you did tell me to try my worst after all.”

 

Dean had stopped begging a few days back. He was quiet and still now. He’d fallen back under the surface, in that hazy drowning space he was before but he was no longer fighting, just drifting like a good boy. His new compliance did not mean Y/N was going to be left alone though.

A pet would be inconvenient but Dean would behave for eternity if I threatened her. Dean had never even told a soul about Y/N and his short romance with her, how she was the one or some crap.

Poor girl. It was really such a pity for her to have to pay for Dean’s mistakes.

I followed her easily after she left the bar she worked at for the evening, the girl’s ears preening. She was good at picking up the small shuffle of feet, a careful look on her face as she turned around.

Uh oh.

“Dean?” she asked, a big smile crossing her face. “Dean! What are you doing here?”

Oh, something was  _wrong_. I was supposed to grab her and go. Dean’s love was doing something though, surely. This was not a feeling of my own. This was not…

“I am Michael,” I said slowly. “The archangel.”

“Oh. Hunting stuff? Wait, are you hunting with Dean?” she asked. “While…huh?”

“Yes,” I quickly lied. “I am working with Dean. He’s allowing me to wear his vessel.”

“It must be important then,” she said.

“It is,” I said, a flurry of something happening in the vessel’s stomach region. “You’re cute.”

What. The. Fuck. I did  _not_ …

“Well, Dean knows I always thought he was cute too,” she said with a giggle. “I uh, is this…can this wait until the morning? It’s 2:30 and I am so tired.”

“Yes. May I walk you home?” I asked. Yes, that’s better. I can take her then.

“Okay,” she said. But the whole time, there were only simply urges to protect the poor girl from any danger. When it began to rain, I gave her the hat I wore and my coat, my own eyes wide at the gesture. “You’re quite the gentleman, Michael.”

“Thank you,” I said, holding open the door for her when we arrived at her building.

“Come on,” she said, grabbing my hand, leading me into her apartment. Okay, good, another opportunity. She led us up a few flights of stairs, pulling me into her home. “You’re all wet. I got some leftover dry clothes from Dean years ago.”

“Why?” I asked.

“He asked me to save them for someday when he got out of the life,” she said softly. She exited down a hall, returning with a pile of clothes. “There’s a bathroom right there. If you’d like, you can spend the night on the couch. A friend of Dean’s is a friend of mine.”

“You’re too kind,” I said, the flush in my cheeks surely belonging purely to the vessel.

“I’m going to put on some pajamas. Be right back,” she said.

I wasn’t sure why I wasn’t following her and taking her but I assumed it had to do something with Dean’s affections for her. They must have been stronger than originally guessed. I snapped my fingers and changed into the new clothes, Y/N exiting down the hall a moment later. She gave me a sleepy smile, handing me a pillow and blanket.

“Night, Michael,” she said.

“Goodnight, Y/N.”

I took the items and she flicked off a light switch, humming to herself before I heard her get in her own bed. I settled onto the couch, sitting quietly for a moment.

“Dean. Is this vessel under some sort of spell you are unaware of?” I asked. “This girl-”

“For fuck’s sake dude, I can feel you crushing on her hard, all the way in here. Geez, you never talk to a girl before?” said Dean. “Oh, and back off buddy. She’s mine.”

“I will harm her,” I said, standing and getting to my feet, shoving Dean back, shoving him even farther down, down with his inner demons. “And you will stay there and not say a word for a very long time.”

I stood and approached her bedroom, lifting my head high as I stepped inside. She looked so sweet, already asleep.

I closed my eyes and returned to her front room, sitting on the couch.

Even now I could still feel these things for this girl, things that were human, even with Dean tucked away.

“Is this affection?” I said quietly, blinking my eyes. “She’s but a lowly human. A lowly human I know deep down…I would smite for, would protect, would give my life for…Y/N,” I said, standing up, quickly walking into her room and shaking her awake.

“S’wrong?” she mumbled, adorably rubbing her eyes, staring up at me so oh lovely and trusting.

I couldn’t break it. Break her. I just couldn’t.

“I…I am having strange feelings for you,” I said. She smiled, cocking her head at me. “Do you know about this?”

“Well…Dean’s my guy and Dean’s your sword thingy. Maybe you’re like my guardian angel or something,” she said.

Oh no. Oh no, no, no.

A guardian…

They were bound.  _Forever._  Archangels didn’t have protectees. They just didn’t. They weren’t…

“Or maybe you just have a crush on me,” she said with a giggle. “S’okay, Michael. If you’re alright, can we talk in the morning? I really did have a long shift.”

“I’m sorry for waking you. Rest now,” I said, running my hand over her head, putting her back to sleep.

This was not why I came here. I came here to destroy, rebuild, create anew.

But here was this girl, this girl I knew deep down…

“You own me,” I said, sinking down to my knees, closing my eyes. “Perhaps…perhaps if I showed you my ways and you felt the same affection…perhaps it could still work.”

“Michael?” Y/N mumbled again as she woke again, reaching her hand out. “Are you okay?”

“No, little one. I am very much out of control and I don’t know what to do,” I said. Y/N sat up in bed, patting the edge of it.

“Is it this case you’re working on with Dean? Can I talk to him?” she asked.

“No. It’s not something that can happen when I’m with him like this,” I quickly lied. She nodded, giving me a worried smile. “I apologize. I keep disturbing your sleep.”

“I don’t feel very comfortable going back to sleep when you’re in such a state,” she said. I whimpered, honest to father, whimpered, her soft hand cupping my cheek. “Sorry. I never liked to see Dean upset. It’s hard to remember you’re not quite him right now.”

“I see why he cares so deeply for you,” I said, leaning into her touch.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” she asked.

“Please rest for me,” I said, allowing whatever this weakness was to fill me up, almost overwhelmed with it. “As you said, this can wait until morning.”

I stood up and pulled her covers back over her, Y/N asleep by the time I was back on the couch.

Something was broken inside. Something had snapped open and it wouldn’t shut.

Maybe I could still destroy the world, still fix it. But this girl…I was hers and she didn’t even know it. When she found out, she’d make me stop and I’d listen. Oh, I’d do whatever she asked.

I was more trapped than Dean Winchester.

 

“Good morning, Michael,” said Y/N, yawning with a smile around 10 in the morning. I stood up from my seat, pouting when she turned her back to me and started to prepare herself a meal in the kitchen. The effect was still there and I could have sworn I heard Dean snicker under the surface at some point in the night. “Would you like some food?”

“No thank you,” I said, approaching her island, Y/N nodding for me to sit. “I don’t require sustenance.”

“Oh. Does Dean?” she asked.

“Fuck you, she’s still  _my_  girl,” I heard Dean mumble. I knew my eye twitched as I grabbed hold of Dean and quickly shoved him back down.

“Michael?” she asked.

“No, he…he does not require it while I am in his vessel. He appreciates your concern,” I said. Y/N giggled, an adorable sound really.

“He pissed you aren’t giving him some frosted flakes or something? All I got is oatmeal anyways and Dean hates that,” she said.

“We wouldn’t want to make him uncomfortable then,” I said with a smile, Y/N laughing again.

“Come on Dean, work with Michael,” she said. I grinned, Y/N plopping her bowl in a microwave before spinning around. “So…what’s going on? Dean was always pretty adamant that I keep out of hunting until he was done for good.”

“You believed he would walk away from hunting just like that?” I asked. She shook her head, a sad smile on her face.

“No. Honestly…honestly I thought if something ever happened to his brother, Sam, maybe then he’d get out. Or if somehow he magically found a way to get rid of all of the monsters…we laid all this crap out before we broke things off…came to an arrangement,” she said.

“An arrangement?” I asked, the word barely appearing in Dean’s memories.

“Dean and I…we’re like…soulmates. But the way his life is…we didn’t have to stop living even though we were apart. We could move on, have other relationships, hookups, a family, whatever we wanted really…but once we both get upstairs, at least then we’ll get our shot, even if we don’t down here,” she said. “I’d take him right now if I could but…he has an important job and I’d never make him choose me. It’s why we came up with what we did.”

“He couldn’t bear that you are harmed,” I said. She smiled softly, a small twinge of blush on her cheeks.

“I know. I feel a little better knowing you’re with him. He’s got an angel keeping him safe,” she said.

“Oh yes. There’s no safer place in the world for him than with me,” I said, swallowing hard. “In fact, that’s why I came here.”

“Yeah?” said Y/N.

“Dean…and myself, feel as though it would be safest for you to remain with me, with us,” I said quickly. “There are creatures out there that are aware of you and may choose to come after you.”

“Oh,” she said, her cute face dropping, a flicker of fear under the surface.

“I would never let that happen,” I said, giving her a nod. “I swear.”

“Thanks,” she said. “I uh, do I have to leave my apartment?”

“Yes,” I said, parting my lips. “I’ll give you some time this morning to get your affairs in order and pack a bag.”

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“It’ll be best if we keep moving,” I said. “Sam will be working the case. Dean charged me with solely acting as protection until it is resolved.”

“Alright,” she said. “I’ll pack up after breakfast.”

 

“Whoa,” she said, putting her hands on her head. I chuckled. Humans were not built for quick teleportation and the after effects were always amusing. She rested a hand on her stomach though and I quickly saw her face turn green.

“Sh,” I said, putting a hand over her head, her cheeks regaining their color. “It’ll become easier to deal with in time.”

“Thanks,” she said, standing up straight, fixing the backpack on her shoulders. She gave me a smile, biting her bottom lip. “Can I ask what’s up with the outfit?”

“Why must everyone make comments on my choice of clothing,” he said. “Angels do not even require clothing.”

“Touchy,” she said, holding up her hands. “Just wanted to say it looks…cute. I like the hat. Dean’s probably wondering what the hell.”

“Well…I’m not a big fan of his flannel and such,” I said.

“So what now?” she asked, looking up at me like I knew all the answers, like all the answers, like the entire plan, hadn’t just been tossed out the window the night before.

“I suppose we find a place for you to store your bag for now and then I will do a sweep of the area and then…we can do what you’d like,” I said.

“Alright,” she said. “Maybe we can get some lunch after. I’m starving all of a sudden.”

 

**Two Weeks Later**

“Dean,” I mumbled, Dean smirking as he climbed back to the surface in his own head.

“Oh, I can’t believe I was scared of you ever hurting Y/N. She’s got you deep, Mikey. She fucking owns your feathery ass and the second she finds out what you did to me-”

“I could still harm her,” I said.

“No. You really couldn’t. I can’t see much in your head or know what’s been going on but all this emotional bullshit you got going on for her, you don’t know how to hide it. I can feel it, all the way down in this hell hole. You lost. You lost the second you laid eyes on her. New world my ass. This is our world and I’m-”

“Perhaps. Perhaps I lie to tell her and tell her you’re dead in here. There is no more Dean and you oh so sweetly asked if I would keep her from knowing the truth to spare her the pain. No one will look for you ever again,” I said.

“Perhaps you’re a dickhead and you know you’ve lost,” said Dean. “You know what? Why don’t you deal with Y/N on your own, lover boy. Sooner or later, she’ll knock some sense into you. The hard way.”

“I do like her Dean. Perhaps…I create my own nephillim with her?” I teased.

“I’m done with the games, Michael,” said Y/N, sitting up in her bed. I blinked at her, knowing I hadn’t been speaking aloud.

“You’re busted,” said Dean with a big smirk.

“Go play in your hell memories,” I barked back, shifting Dean away in there, knowing that’d keep him busy for awhile.

“Michael,” said Y/N, turning around. “What aren’t you telling me?”

Oh. She was purely innocent, frightened almost. The constant moving from town to town was beginning to get to her.

“Please. Whatever it is, I can handle it,” she said. I sighed and approached her bed, sitting beside her. She wrapped her hand around mine, giving me a smile.

“My feelings for you are growing stronger,” I said, squeezing my eyes shut. Why could I not tell more than a simple white lie to this woman? Why?

“I like you too,” she whispered. “I know it’s wrong but…”

Oh, I could never have felt more warmth and shame in that moment if I tried. This small human was feeling something, for me of all creatures. Yet I’d threatened to harm her, harm her horribly to Dean. Threatened to hurt her.

No. No. That would never be done, could never be done.

Maybe this woman was why I was meant to come to this world.

“There is no wrong. This situation is…strange. Dean is connected to both of us. It would make sense that we too have a…connection,” I said.

“It feels…” she said, tilting her head up to mine, her eyes going to my lips. “Can we…”

“Oh, yes,” I said. I’d never performed the act myself but Dean’s memories were full of this. I leaned in and touched my lips to Y/N’s own, pleased at the happy hum it sent through my body. She breathed out, parting her lips. That was a cue for more and I gave it to her. Oh, she was such a perfect little thing that-

“ _Give me the fuck back my boyfriend_ ,” she snarled. My eyes flashed open, a pair of handcuffs on me now. I felt drowsy, weak, sluggish. “Do you think I’m an idiot?”

“No, Y/N,” I said, angry with myself over how that affection was still there. “I swear-”

“Sam called me,” she said. “I’ve been waiting for you to show up for months.”

“Sam does not know about you,” I said.

“Guess again, sweetheart,” she said, patting my cheek hard, stealing my hat. “Sam knew me before I knew Dean. Dean never knew that. Good thing too.”

“Y/N,” I said as she grabbed her bag and slung it over her shoulders, grabbing my arm and leading me towards the door of the room. “Please. I would never harm you.”

“Oh, I know you wouldn’t,” she said with a dark smirk. “You’re hopelessly in love with me. You’re like a puppy, Michael. It’s a bit pathetic coming from the big bad archangel to be honest.”

“I am not pathetic,” I growled, Y/N nodding her head.

“I meant the act. Why do you guys always play the big bad and have no feelings. Having emotions doesn’t make you any less bad in my book,” she said. I simply blinked at her, so completely lost that I didn’t even squirm as she led me outside and broke into a car, shoving me in the passenger seat. She easily found another set of keys and booked it out of there, tapping her fingers against the steering wheel.

“Where are you taking me?” I asked.

“The bunker. They’ll get Dean out and send your ass to the cage or lock you up. Honestly, I don’t care,” she said.

“You don’t care?” I asked. “But-”

“But what? You tortured my soulmate, Michael. You’ve killed how many people? Done how much to monsters that I’ve had to slip past you and get word out to hunters to clean them up? Don’t even try the I’m innocent act,” she said.

“I’m not innocent. I scorched my world,” I said, biting Dean’s bottom lip. “I killed my version of you without ever knowing her.”

Y/N glanced at me but that realization was the worst. There was a version of her in my own world, there had been my own innocent Y/N, one I wouldn’t have had to share and I absolutely ruined her.

“Send me back,” I said, Y/N pulling over to the side of the road.

“What did you just say?” she said.

“Send me back to my world. Let me…let me fix it. I’ll undo it all. I’ll-”

“Your world is full of Angels and Demons and a war Sam said. Just because you want to clean up your mess, doesn’t mean you can,” she said.

“Okay. Okay. Let me…let me go back and I can bring her back. I can bring back my own Y/N, from my world and-”

“You think I would do that to her?” spat back Y/N. “Leave her alone with a psychopath?”

“Some could argue Dean is not the best quality of man there is,” I said.

“He’s the best quality of man you…if you can’t understand why he is, then you don’t deserve anything better than that cage,” she said, pulling back onto the road.

I wasn’t sure what to say. She’d chosen him over me. That was always inevitable. There was a bit of fight left in me but to what purpose?

As Dean had said, I’d already lost.

“How would it work,” she asked after a few moments. “Once you got back there, how would you fix it?”

“I uh, I’d become involved with my brother Lucifer from the start. It’ll take a great deal of energy but it’d be possible to travel through time like that. We would prevent an apocalypse. Keep things in a natural order. Perhaps close hell or change it, create a place where people could redeem themselves. The world would go on, much like this one does,” I said. “I could then return to the present.”

“And you’d find Y/N,” she said. “Your world’s version of her.”

“Could she love a monster such as myself? Does she have that capacity to forgive?” I asked.

“…You don’t know if you’ll have the same reaction to her,” she said.

“I will,” I said, closing my eyes. “But I don’t get a choice.”

“You’re right. It’s up to me.”

 

“You what?” said Sam. My own eyes were on Y/N, watching her shrug in the library of the bunker. “You can’t be serious.”

“He goes back in his own universe, Dean is safe here, Michael goes and saves all the people he killed…worst case if he’s lying, he’s still stuck over there,” she said.

“Y/N, that’s insane,” said Sam. “You don’t know what he’s capable of. You barely know a thing about the hunting world.”

“Maybe I don’t,” she said, glancing at me. “But I know that crazy over here will do whatever I want. I think maybe if he’s not so lonely…maybe we can give him a second chance. Everyone deserves a second chance, Sam.”

“He tortured, Dean. He’s holding Dean trapped in his own body,” said Sam. “You can’t seriously-“

“Hey, Sammy,” said Dean, Y/N and Sam both turning to him. “The dick with wings is letting me talk for a minute so listen up. This guy…I hate him. I want him dead. But he ain’t lying when he says he loves her. It’s something hardwired into him. He can’t fight it. He knows it. She says jump…whatever Y/N wants is ultimately what he’s gonna do. I want him to suffer, believe me…but give her a chance. We can save a whole world of people if we do it right and worst case? We send Y/N in to wrangle him again and toss him in the cage.”

“Are you okay?” asked Y/N.

“I think I’m about to get control of my body back again so yeah, I’m pretty okay,” said Dean. “Mikey’s itching to get back.”

“If I’m allowed to return to my world, I will do as I promised Y/N and I will never return here,” I said.

“Are we really going to uncuff him and let him…” said Sam.

“Yes, Sam, I think you’re going to do exactly that,” I said.

“Michael,” barked Y/N. “Behave. You have no idea how short of a leash you are on.”

“Sorry,” I said quietly, not caring at all how the Winchester boy felt but…Y/N looked angry again. “I apologize, Samuel.”

“I don’t buy this,” said Sam.

“Oh, he doesn’t give a shit about you. We all know that. He cares about me though and what I think of him,” said Y/N. “You’re making me less inclined to do this Michael.”

“I…” I started, taking a deep breath. “I’ll be good. You uncuff me, I hop out of Dean and go through the rift and make things right.”

“You better because Michael? I will be checking up on you and you’re going to leave us plenty of grace to take trips over there whenever we want to,” said Y/N.

“Like I said, what you want, I’ll do.”

 

It took two months to recover once I was back home. They took grace, a lot of it. Y/N hadn’t been by to check on me yet but she seemed to understand I couldn’t heal so quickly when drained.

Going back to the early days, spinning everything back had felt awful and Lucifer had been in no mood to speak. But he eventually listened when I told him of the things to come. He could not be free of what he’d done already after bearing the Mark but he knew Cain had been able to live with the rage in the other world. Lucifer could learn it as well.

Then it was a waiting game. I could have popped back into the present quickly but there were things I had yet to understand if this Y/N were to be like the one I’d left behind. I watched her lineage, from a distance, but I watched, began to learn and care for them. Without them, someday there would be no Y/N. Their survival was as important as her own.

 

Her grandfather had a small white dog when he was a boy, a furry little thing. He didn’t think twice about running into the road when it’s simple leash broke.

“Timothy,” I growled, quickly popping in and grabbing the boy and the dog before a driver hit them. I plopped them both back on the sidewalk, handing the dog to him. “Be careful of the road young man. Your life is incredibly valuable.”

“Sorry, mister,” he said. I narrowed my eyes and held my hands behind my back, fidgeting a moment before pulling them in front.

“Here. You’re lucky I happen carry a spare leash in case…take it and take care of your dog. It depends on you for it’s life and safety,” I said.

“Sorry. Thanks for saving, Dean,” he said. I shook my head, smiling a little. Even in different universes, father seemed to still have the upper hand.

“Take care of Dean,” I said. “I was quite cruel to my Dean once.”

“You had a dog?” he asked.

“Sure,” I said. “I learned a great deal of what it means to be responsible from my time with him. Now go on, Timothy. Don’t talk to strangers either.”

I sighed after he took off with the dog on the new leash.

“I hope someday you realize I saved your dog’s life!”

 

“Walk away,” I said, grabbing the man in the blue jacket by the arm, pinning him back against the brick. “Now.”

“I know that chick,” said the guy.

“No, you don’t. You intend on hurting her for your own benefit,” I said, placing a hand on his neck. “I should kill you for thinking to harm her.”

“What the fuck, man?” he said, powerless to stop it if I truly wanted that. But I hadn’t killed, in such a long time…Y/N would be disappointed in me when she checked on me if I did, even if he deserved it.

“Turn yourself in to the police or I will-” I said, the guy already a groveling mess. I rolled my eyes and popped away with him outside a station, the guy confused but I shoved him towards the door.

“Prison or death. Your choice,” I said. The guy practically sprinted into the building and away. I smirked and returned to the alley, the woman rounding a corner and looking in my direction.

“Hey!” she said to me. I swallowed, ducking my head down. “Hey!”

“Excuse me, miss,” I said, turning away.

“Hey, I know I didn’t stop and say anything but that creep was following me for so long and now he took off. Thanks,” she said.

“It’s my honor, miss,” I said, wincing, walking away. “Good evening.”

“Hey, I don’t even get a name? Or to see that face?” she asked.

“It’s Michael,” I said, the girl pausing behind me. “Go enjoy your evening. That man won’t bother you again.”

“Hey,” said another voice, this one male. “What’s going on here?”

“This guy…” she trailed off as I walked away. “Well thank you!”

“Tonight’s the night you meet Y/N’s father, miss,” I said to myself when I was out of earshot. “It’s a very important night after all.”

 

As far as I understood, Y/N, the Y/N from the other world, her father had never been in the picture. There was a bad history of men in Y/N’s family. But this man was so kind to Y/N’s mother, I never quite understood it until I managed to speak to one of his drunk friends at a bar one night.

“It’s this family code they got,” said Rory, knocking another beer back. “The guys, all big saps, started back with his grandfather. He was bit of an asshole kid and one day just was nicer. He had some pup or somethin’, started treating it better after he had some scare, started treatin’ other stuff better. They grew up a little funny in that family, not funny but, girls weren’t just girls, they rough housed with the boys, the boys helped cook. Probably why he’s got the cutest chick in town on his arm. He’s not a brute like the rest of us, right buddy?”

“I’d quite like to not be a brute,” I said. “I think I’m still learning that part.”

“Me too, buddy. Me too.”

 

I did my best to stay away, give the young couple their privacy but I knew it was only a matter of time before what I’d been waiting for so many years would finally happen. I almost missed it too, catching Y/N’s father rushing her mother into a car. I smiled, knowing it would go well and there weren’t so many years left to wait. The one thing I would not allow myself was interaction with her, not until we caught up to the right time. No. I had to lay low, occupy myself other ways. I knew I’d changed something in the time stream, something beyond the grand scheme of allowing this world to never experience an apocalypse.

She had a sweet family, a family that I caught glimpses of the father buying diapers at the store, of the mother picking out a backpack for school, wrappings from birthday presents in the trash.

It was so unlike the childhood Y/N had told Dean about. It was the one she had deserved. The one they all deserved in the end.

 

“Mr. Michael?” asked the little girl as she timidly came over to me with her friend. I smiled, tried to keep it soft. I’d been practicing that and the time I’d spent there with the children had greatly shown me how to show it more naturally. “Henry wants to know why you wear a suit all the time.”

“I like to wear a suit,” I said gently. “Just like you like to wear those big bear claw slippers.”

“I get cold feet,” said the boy behind Farrow.

“I know. You two are up way past bedtime though,” I said, picking them each up in one arm, both of them giggling. A nurse gave us a smile as I brought Henry back to his room, his mother saying goodnight to me when I handed him off.

“Mr. Michael,” said Farrow. “Why do you work here? You’re not a doctor.”

“No, no I’m not,” I said. “I like volunteering here at the hospital. I used to be a bully when I was younger. When I was…when I was a boy, I probably would have made fun of you for being sick.”

“No you wouldn’t. You’re too nice,” she said.

“I grew up and realized I didn’t like being alone and being mean to people. Someone very special to me pointed that out. It’s no fun being alone,” I said.

“Well…maybe you got cranky cause you were by yourself and your mommy and daddy didn’t play with you a lot. I’m sick all the time and they still play with me, even if I can’t run around so much anymore,” she said.

“Maybe that was it,” I said softly. “Well, to answer your first question, I volunteer because I don’t have much of a family anymore, because I was so mean. It’s very hard when you want a family again and they’re all gone. So sometimes we find other ways to make us happy. Working here does that for me.”

“You can bring home one of my pictures from my wall so your house is happy too,” she said.

“Oh but Farrow, those are your special drawings. They suck up all the bad sickness,” I said.

“Mr. Michael, I know they don’t. The medicine makes me better…kinda,” she said.

“You’ve been through so much already,” I said quietly, Farrow not saying anything as I carried her back into her room, tucking her in and making sure a nurse would come by to reattach her IV. “Do you want me to stay until your parents get here?”

She nodded, tucking her head into her pillow, letting out a little sigh. She was out fast. She always fell asleep fast. I smiled, rubbing a hand over her head.

“When you wake up tomorrow, Farrow, you’re going to feel so much better. You’re never going to worry about that nasty thing growing in you ever coming back again,” I said.

“I wish,” said her father, a man with a normally sunny disposition despite his daughter’s situation. “She weaker today? I know you give it to me straighter than the doctor’s do.”

“I feel like her illness is starting to get to her,” I said, the man nodding as he took a seat in his normal chair. “You have a strong girl, Alex. I wouldn’t give up hope just yet.”

“How do you come in this place every day, man? After what you said happened with your own girl…” he said. I had disliked that I’d lied to most of the parents I ever spoke with but they were not children and needed a better understanding of why a man such as myself would be there, volunteering in the children’s hospital regularly. “How can you even walk in a hospital after that?”

“My girl…gave me a second chance, a way to find myself again. This is not an evil place, Alex, even if you feel it is. Do not give up on your hope for better things. It’s the best part of humanity there is,” I said. “Your girl has hope. Let it thrive.”

“Her labs came back…it’s worse, a lot worse,” he said.

“Labs are wrong at times,” I said with a shrug. “Perhaps some sort of miracle will happen. You never truly know.”

“Miracles aren’t real,” he said.

“Agree to disagree, Alex,” I said with a smile, trailing a finger down Farrow’s arm, giving her one last boost of grace. “Good night. Get some rest. I have a feeling tomorrow will be a good day.”

“Night, Michael.”

 

“Good afternoon, Michael,” said Nurse Hathaway. “We were wondering where you’ve been. It’s not like you to skip out on us. We were getting ready to make a missing person’s report.”

“Thank you Carol,” I said with a smile, picking up my badge and signing in. “No, no. I had some personal business to attend to. Some things are changing for me and unfortunately, today will be my last day of volunteering here. I wanted to say goodbye to some of the children. I know how attached some of them grow.”

“Oh, Mr. Michael is a big hit. The kids are going to miss you,” she said. “You finally forgive yourself for whatever it is you did?”

“Carol, you know-”

“I know why you say you’re here. I know the look in your eye too. It’s different than when you first came here,” she said.

“We all have our demons,” I said with a smile. “But we don’t have to keep feeding them throughout our lives, do we?”

“Good point. Hey, make sure your buddy Farrow is your last stop. She’s got a big surprise for you.”

“Hello?” I knocked on the open door at the end of the hall. Alex was there, coloring with Farrow on the bed, his wife passed out on the sleeping couch in the room.

“Mr. Michael!” said Farrow. “Guess what?”

“What?” I said.

“I’m not sick anymore,” she said. “I feel so good! I get to go home later today!”

“Really?” I said, Alex nodding.

“Yeah. Isn’t that great?” she said.

“Well my last day is pretty amazing then,” I said. She hopped off her bed with more energy than I’d ever seen out of her, getting a hug from her before she handed me a paper.

“It sucks up the bad stuff,” she said, handing me one of her drawings.

“I’m going to keep this someplace safe,” I said, carefully folding it and putting it in my wallet. I didn’t necessarily need it for anything but it made things easier and got less questions asked.

“Michael, can I talk to you for a minute?” asked Alex. I hummed and he led me outside the room, grabbing my arm when we were farther down the hall. “What’d you do?”

“Alex, I would never harm-”

“Not harm,” said Alex, releasing his grip. “You said all that stuff the other night and she was bad, real bad. You knew how bad she was. She could barely walk and now she’s perfect? Like nothing was ever wrong? That’s not possible.”

“Perhaps some sort of miracle happened. I wouldn’t question it, Alex,” I said, getting a nod from him.

“You know, I asked the nurses about you…they call you Healing Angel, like that angel Michael or something. You started volunteering here a few years ago and of the many, many children that have gone through here in that time, all of them got better. Some it was slow, some it was fast like Farrow, but they got better. Why don’t you tell me what’s going on?” he said.

“You want me to say I’m an angel? I’m the angel Michael?” I said with a chuckle, chuckling some more to myself. “Alex, this is one of the best hospitals in the country.”

“But-”

“Alex,” I said, giving him a nod. “I’m just a man who is trying to redeem himself, nothing more. Your daughter is well. Be happy. Forget the how and just enjoy.”

“Michael,” he said. I smiled, crossing my arms. “Michael.”

“Have a good life, Alex. Look after Farrow, she’s a very special girl,” I said.

“Special how?” he asked.

“Helped save a fallen archangel like me for starters,” I said. Alex’s face dropped, a quiet chuckle escaping me. “Goodbye, Alex.”

 

It’d been years and years and now that the moment was here…I wasn’t sure what to do. I’d spent so much time learning, over a century of it and I’d learned a great deal.

Preparing to speak to the woman I was very likely going to be in love with, how to even flirt with her, probably should have been higher on the list.

“Hey.”

I glanced up from the park bench, wide eyed.

“Y/N?” I asked, Dean taking a seat on a bench on the other side of the path, just out of earshot. He gave me a glare, my head dropping.

“I see you found a new vessel. He looks a lot like Dean,” she said.

“It’s just a suit. This man has a life again…I changed it all. I fixed it. No one’s in here but me,” I said.

“You ditched the three piece suit,” she said. “Dress shirt and jeans. First date tonight or something?”

“I hope,” I said. “If she rejects me, that’s her choice and I will stand by it.”

“You’re different. You didn’t just change everything and pop back to now, did you,” said Y/N.

“No,” I said with a smile. “I knew how you reacted to me. I had to learn and that takes time.”

“What have you been learning?” she asked.

“Everything. Being human. Compassion,” I said.

“Way to brag about it,” she said.

“Nothing to brag about, Y/N. I’m simply doing as I promised you and I will continue to do so long after you leave this place,” I said.

“You really think you’ll win other me over?” she asked.

“I haven’t a clue,” I said. “I haven’t a clue if I’ll even have the same reaction to her as I do you.”

“We may have swung by her place before we came to see you,” she said.

“I see,” I said.

“Michael, close your eyes,” she said. I did as told, the park bench shifting as she stood, another weight replacing it. “Go ahead.”

“Hi. I’m Y/N but I guess you already know that,” she said, looking exactly the same if not a bit kinder in the eyes when she looked at me.

“Hi,” I said, taking a deep breath, a flurry of something rushing through my veins. “I’m Michael.”

“I’ve heard,” she said. I nodded and turned away. It was still there, even stronger than before if possible. “You know…I was kind of surprised when that guy over there and my twin from another universe showed up at my door.”

“I would imagine so,” I said.

“Michael, can you look at me?” she asked. There was no harshness in her voice. They’d surely told her about my past. They were the good ones after all. This girl was simply showing kindness such as the first Y/N had. I’d never deserved this opportunity and I surely did not deserve this girl or the chance to know her.

“I’m not sure what to do,” I said, lifting my head, glancing at the first Y/N I’d known. She gave me a smile, the Y/N from the first world giving her a head nod.

“You’re like my guardian angel or something?” said the Y/N on the bench.

“I’m not sure,” I said.

“You’re kind of an indecisive guy, aren’t you?” she asked. I glanced at the other Y/N, getting an eye roll from her. “Y/N says you’re a little different.”

“What else does she say,” I said.

“Not a lot,” she said.

“Y/N, Can I talk to Michael alone for just a minute? Then we got to run and head back home,” said Y/N. She nodded and Y/N curled her finger, promoting for me to follow her down the path, a bit away from the others. “Why aren’t you confessing your love for her already?”

“I don’t wish to cause fear in her. I feel now, despite waiting for this moment for a very long time…perhaps it’s best for her if I leave her be,” I said.

“Why?”

“I’m a monster and she deserves better. You both do.”

“Maybe she does deserve better than you but I’ll let her make that choice for herself,” said Y/N.

“I don’t understand. She must know-“

“She knows that the archangel Michael came to our world and came back to his own to fix a few things. It looks like you’re holding up you end of the deal,” she said. “She doesn’t know your old psychopath, kidnapping, torturing, evil ways, Michael.”

“I feel she should,” I said, Y/N raising an eyebrow. “Relationships with dishonesty do not last. Not that I should have the right at one. Simply an observation I’ve made.”

“If I know myself, she’ll be as pissed as me,” said Y/N. “Would you throw a tantrum and destroy the world again if she rejected you?”

“Why would I destroy this place?” I asked. Y/N smiled, a soft one, one I remembered from Dean’s memories. “Why are you happy?”

“You kept your promise, Michael. You’re not the same archangel that hurt Dean, not anymore,” she said.

“I was not punished for what I did. I should be,” I said.

“Did you steal some of his self-depreciation too?” she teased.

“But-”

“You forget Michael. We’re connected. I know you. We’ve all been monsters. We try to fix it, move on and do good to make up for it. You’re doing that,” she said.

“So many people have suffered because of me,” I said.

“True. Which is why if you want to be punished…I have a solution for you,” she said.

“It’s your decision,” I said.

“Y/N!” called this one, the one from my world walking over, wearing a big smile. “Michael here wants to be punished but I’m not so sure. I have an idea if we decide to do it though. What do you think?”

“Why would he need to be punished?” she said, raising an eyebrow.

“I once killed this world, Y/N,” I said. “I filled it with monsters, led a war…humans were nothing to me. I once even threatened the man this other Y/N loves. I was controlling him, in a horribly wrong way and I threatened to hurt her, keep her as a pet…I am not a thing that deserves anything but punishments.”

“But…” she trailed off. “Is that true?”

“I didn’t know I was going to be a pet but yeah, it’s true,” said Y/N. “Now, what do you think we ought to do with him?”

“Please just make up you mind,” I said, closing my eyes. “I don’t wish to harass Y/N with this anymore.”

“Which one?” said Dean, walking over and standing behind the one that was his, was most certainly his.

“What do you want?” I asked him. Dean scoffed and narrowed his eyes. “I am sorry for what I did. Send me somewhere else, somewhere I’ll be alone.”

“Running away from your problems is sort of my deal, dude,” said Dean, lifting his chin. “Besides, somebody has to keep an eye on you.”

Dean glanced at the other Y/N, giving her a smirk.

“I sincerely hope I never see you again,” said Dean, throwing his arm over Y/N’s shoulders. “Let’s go home.”

“Wait,” I said, Y/N staring up at me. “What about-”

“You could always go team human all the way,” said Y/N with a smirk. “Get rid of your grace. Sort of how you got rid of monsters in this world.”

“How do you know-”

“We know what you’ve been up to, Mikey,” said Dean. “Not our first time dropping by.”

“But-”

“Y/N’ll help you figure out what to do I’m sure,” said Y/N, giving me a nod. “Michael. Be good.”

“What…” I said, watching them walk away, Y/N standing there scratching her head.

“Today’s weird,” she said.

“What do you want me to do?” I asked. “Would you like that I become human? I will leave you alone either way.”

“Michael…” she said, pursing her lips. “I…okay honestly, they sort of told me a lot of stuff before I got here. Like a lot. I was shocked to hear that you did that bad stuff but…they said you were redeeming yourself now. I think you have to let it all go, just try to be good and live your life now.”

“What did they tell you?” I asked.

“The hospital stuff. The whole no monsters. This world isn’t perfect but it’s nicer than theirs from what I can tell. You…you’re my guardian angel or maybe it’s something else and I want you to keep being good, right here in this universe,” she said.

“I can’t leave it. Not without them. The items they used to get here…a few don’t exist here,” I said.

“Well good. You might come in handy for something,” she said. I nodded, Y/N giggling. “You should smile more. I’m not going to do anything bad to you, Michael.”

“Would you if I asked?” I said. She frowned, that flurry in my veins aching horribly.

“No. From what they said, you’ve learned a lot and learned how to care for people but you forgot something pretty important it seems like,” she said.

“What?”

“Letting someone take care of you.”

 

“Your apartment is quite nice,” I said, following her into the space. “Quite similar to the other Y/N’s place actually.”

“This place has a roof problem, a mice problem and my wifi is crap,” she said. I squeezed my eyes shut, blinking a few times. “Did you just fix all that stuff?”

“You should have nice things,” I said. She shook her head and led me over to a couch, telling me to sit. She left the room, returning after a few moments with a beer and sitting on the other end.

“So…I got a feeling you’re going to be the strangest friend I ever had,” she said. “Do you like beer?”

“I don’t require food,” I said.

“Do you sleep?” she asked.

“No.”

“Where do you live?”

“Nowhere,” I said. “I often walk at night. I like quiet.”

“You like me too, don’t you?” she asked.

“I like the idea of you,” I said. “You…I do not yet know where my feelings stem from.”

“Well it’s not like we have to figure it all out in one day. We got the time, Michael.”

 

**Two Years Later**

“Michael?”

I blinked open my eyes, laying down in the bedroom, Y/N standing over the side of the bed.

“You passed out,” she said. “We were talking and you just…”

“I traveled far today. I need to rest, Y/N,” I said, giving her a nod. “I’ll be well soon.”

“Traveled far my ass. You stumbled out to the kitchen and back. You pushed this body too much,” she said, pulling the sheets over top of me. “I told you we should do this slow but you went cold turkey on me.”

“I got excited. Sue me,” I said, closing my eyes with a smirk.

“How much water have you drunk? Are you hungry? Do you-”

“Y/N. I’ve been practicing being human for over a year. I know to drink fluids and eat food,” I said.

“Oh, well I’ll leave you to fend for yourself then,” she said, crossing her arms.

“I thought water would taste different. It doesn’t taste like anything,” I said, rolling onto my back, staring at the ceiling.

“I can make you some soup and grilled cheese,” she said, running a hand over my head. “How’s that sound for first human food?”

“Great,” I said, closing my eyes.

“Why now, Michael?” she asked. “This morning you seemed normal and then I get home from the store and you suddenly jumped headfirst into this without me. I wanted to be here and help you if you needed it.”

“I know. I was nervous of the reaction I’d have. I’ve been an archangel a very long time,” I said. “I like this better though, being human.”

“How’s the guilt feel now?” she asked gently.

“Still there. But it’s alright. I can live with it,” I said.

“You seem happier,” she said. I shrugged, turning my head slowly.

“I finally know now. Whether it was because I was a guardian angel or not,” I said.

“Are you going to keep me in suspense?” she asked, sitting down on the edge of the mattress.

“It was you. Just you,” I said. “Saved a whole world and one ex-evil archangel you did.”

“You know I don’t like when you talk about yourself like that,” she said, running her hand over my head.

“I’m still learning. Always learning,” I said, leaning into the touch.

“Remember when we learned you liked cuddling? Oh, that was amazing,” she said, crawling her fingers down my cheek, tickling under my jaw. “Little cutie you are underneath it all.”

“I don’t think I’ll be well enough to to work today,” I said.

“You still want to volunteer? Knowing you have no grace anymore?” she asked.

“Well…I’m human now but my grace isn’t all gone,” I said. “I’ve been extracting it for quite a while. I have a stock supply built up that I can still give out.”

“How big a supply?” she asked.

“…A hundred years worth give or take,” I said with a wince.

“Oh, is that all?” she said, shaking her head. “I think you should take a few days off, get your human legs under you. The kiddos will be there when you get back.”

“Do you want me to get a real job?” I asked. She shook her head, leaning down and kissing my lips. It still felt so strange, even stranger now, that she would want to ever give me a chance.

“You have a very important job, Mr. Michael,” she said. “I’ll be right back with your snack.”

“Y/N,” I said as she stood, getting a smile from her. “Thank you. For giving me something better.”

“I didn’t do anything Michael. You did.”


End file.
